To Whom shall I speak

[Karl Peters]

Jer 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?
Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.

Jer 5:21 ‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
Who have eyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.

If we look at it from the Lord's perspective we find that people don't want to listen to Him! They don't even want to believe God is there all the time, as an omni-present being that sometimes goes by "I AM" because He is always there.

Of course, God is spirit so we are talking about using our spiritual eyes and ears not our physical eyes and ears. Still we have spiritual senses, but we just live according to our flesh so much that we can't see and hear with our spiritual eyes and ears.

Even me - I don't use my spiritual senses anywhere close to as much as I should. Yes - I usually hear the Lord and words that He tells me about a dozen times a day, but that is sad considering that He is always with me. Yet by hearing Him even a mere dozen times a day He can usually get through to me and warn me. He certainly can if He knows it is very important. Sometimes He lets me take a little crash to learn from. He has compared that to letting a child learn to ride a bike even if you know they will probably fall and hurt themselves at some point.

And He, when I listen, tells me such interesting things. He is pretty weird in that regards. His thoughts are definitely not my thoughts. Often He has little sayings like:

CONFIDENCE IS BUILT BY OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. PRIDE IS BUILT BY CONQUERING YOUR VICTIM


Little sayings, or interesting instructions, and of course the wonderful words "Karl, I love you." are so special. Yet He also reproves us with words like, "Karl, if a thousand of My mighty men are doing something wrong, I still don't want you doing it."

So why don't people want to listen to Him??? I don't understand? Why do they not take delight in what He has to say to them?

But I guess for their sakes, the real question from Him is, "To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?

The answer is of course He will speak to those trying to hear from Him. The others don't get the warning, because they don't hear with the spiritual ears He gave them!

 

[Nancy]

Jer 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?
Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.

Jer 5:21 ‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
Who have eyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.

If we look at it from the Lord's perspective we find that people don't want to listen to Him! They don't even want to believe God is there all the time, as an omni-present being that sometimes goes by "I AM" because He is always there.

Of course, God is spirit so we are talking about using our spiritual eyes and ears not our physical eyes and ears. Still we have spiritual senses, but we just live according to our flesh so much that we can't see and hear with our spiritual eyes and ears.

Even me - I don't use my spiritual senses anywhere close to as much as I should. Yes - I usually hear the Lord and words that He tells me about a dozen times a day, but that is sad considering that He is always with me. Yet by hearing Him even a mere dozen times a day He can usually get through to me and warn me. He certainly can if He knows it is very important. Sometimes He lets me take a little crash to learn from. He has compared that to letting a child learn to ride a bike even if you know they will probably fall and hurt themselves at some point.

And He, when I listen, tells me such interesting things. He is pretty weird in that regards. His thoughts are definitely not my thoughts. Often He has little sayings like:

CONFIDENCE IS BUILT BY OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. PRIDE IS BUILT BY CONQUERING YOUR VICTIM


Little sayings, or interesting instructions, and of course the wonderful words "Karl, I love you." are so special. Yet He also reproves us with words like, "Karl, if a thousand of My mighty men are doing something wrong, I still don't want you doing it."

So why don't people want to listen to Him??? I don't understand? Why do they not take delight in what He has to say to them?

But I guess for their sakes, the real question from Him is, "To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?

The answer is of course He will speak to those trying to hear from Him. The others don't get the warning, because they don't hear with the spiritual ears He gave them!

Good word Karl,
Having a quiet and peaceful SOUND mind makes ALL the difference if we hear Him or not I find. My mind never stops and, thoughts from soup to nuts run continually through it. This can make it difficult to truly hear Him speaking into our spirits.

I can only say for certain that I did hear Him only a few times, and only few words. Mostly it is His word that I hear allot in my mind. Things like "My grace is sufficient for you" "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete..." Or things like "Just love them, pray for them..."

Why don't people listen to Him..."the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers..." My question is why don't many Christians listen to Him since, His ways are always for our own good! We shoot ourselves in the foot when not placing Him first in ALL things.
God bless

 

[Karl Peters]

Good word Karl,
Having a quiet and peaceful SOUND mind makes ALL the difference if we hear Him or not I find. My mind never stops and, thoughts from soup to nuts run continually through it. This can make it difficult to truly hear Him speaking into our spirits.

I can only say for certain that I did hear Him only a few times, and only few words. Mostly it is His word that I hear allot in my mind. Things like "My grace is sufficient for you" "He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete..." Or things like "Just love them, pray for them..."

Why don't people listen to Him..."the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers..." My question is why don't many Christians listen to Him since, His ways are always for our own good! We shoot ourselves in the foot when not placing Him first in ALL things.
God bless

Love the above post!!

There are many things that help us hear from Him or not.

Most everyone who does hear from Him find it easier to hear from Him in a quiet place. It actually is not necessary to have a quiet place. We can actually hear from Him in very loud and busy places, but in those places we are easily distracted. It is those "thoughts from soup to nuts continually" running through our mind that keep us from hearing Him, along with the faith to simply believe that He is there with us.

If we seek Him more, we will find Him more - and the more we practice listening to Him the more we believe that we can hear from Him. It is written that faith comes from hearing - so the more we hear from Him the more faith we get that He is with us. And just like mention in the prior post, He is always willing to poor out His grace (unmerited favor) to us so we can just turn back to Him and start hearing from Him again even when we didn't and forgot before.

 

[Nancy]

Thank you brother,
Silence and zero distraction works wonders for me because have to deal with the racing thoughts that can distract as well. Love the parks or by the lake as, all you see is His creation, His beauty and intricacy blows me away.

Oh yes indeed, the FAITH TO KNOW He is always there...even through long silences.

For sure brother, faith DOES come by hearing His word. I've been listening to audio bible (dramatized!) through Biblegateway. It is so much easier on the eyes , for sure...just can't highlight in the actual bible, or do notes in the margins but...can always write things down on paper and pause. It has me much more interested and gets WAY more WORD in.

Yes bro, He is so faithful and long suffering towards us...gracious, forgiving. How good it is to know that HE knows our hearts
In Him always!

 

[Karl Peters]

Yeah - it is easier to hear from Him in quite places, and it seems better when you are in a beautify place like by a lake with ducks or swans - and it is nice to talk to Him while reading or listening to a bible - of course the Bible is not the Word of God we are preaching nor the Word of God which gives us more faith. It is the rhema word (an utterance His personally gives us) that gives us faith that He is there. His thoughts are not our thought, even His thoughts on His creation.

For example: I like to talk to Him while driving in the car, and one day I was looking at the local mountains which had just gotten a nice dusting of snow on the peaks. I was telling the Lord how beautiful His creation was. He responded, "Karl, if you are looking at the mountain and sky you are looking at the setting not the stones. Look at the people, they are the jewels in the setting."

After talking to Him I get to see things closer to how He does. One day He had me sitting inside the local mall, with all the noise and distraction, and looking at the people go by while talking to me about the people and what I saw in their eyes. He was pointing out how much you can see about people by looking at their eyes. For about an hour He just had me looking at the people going by and talking to my about them. Some had tired eyes. Some had darting excited eyes. Some had concern in their eyes. Some eyes just looked down and others look only ahead. He is the Teacher, which the Bible explains, but the Book is not the Teacher only a book He sometimes uses to teach us from. Yet He is not limited to using the Book only. Yes, the beautiful places like a lake, but more importantly a busy place like a mall. We need to seek Him in all areas of our lives, and in all places, otherwise we are missing out on things He has to show us.

 

[Cassandra]

Yeah - it is easier to hear from Him in quite places, and it seems better when you are in a beautify place like by a lake with ducks or swans - and it is nice to talk to Him while reading or listening to a bible - of course the Bible is not the Word of God we are preaching nor the Word of God which gives us more faith. It is the rhema word (an utterance His personally gives us) that gives us faith that He is there. His thoughts are not our thought, even His thoughts on His creation.

but we need to make sure what we hear is backed up by the word of God. Not saying that God doesn't talk to you, but there are other beings who can speak to us too, and we need to use the Bible as a verifier.

 

[Mantis]

CONFIDENCE IS BUILT BY OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. PRIDE IS BUILT BY CONQUERING YOUR VICTIM

I don’t find that weird I find that profound.

 

[Nancy]

"...of course the Bible is not the Word of God we are preaching nor the Word of God which gives us more faith. It is the rhema word (an utterance His personally gives us) that gives us faith that He is there. His thoughts are not our thought, even His thoughts on His creation."

Hi Karl,
I do understand there is a difference between "logos and rhema"....one is (logos) the written word yet, also pertains to Jesus. Am I correct in saying that "rhema" is God's SPOKEN word, audible? And, cannot a Christian grow with only the written word of God? Many I know do not ever hear Him audibly. Then I hear some on here saying they have dialog, full conversations with Him. I do not so, all I have to depend on and fall back on IS His written word and prayer, faith, trust and the "not very often" thought that I THINK is coming from Him. Do you think one cannot please God unless they actually have 2 way conversations?
God Bless

 

[Karl Peters]

CONFIDENCE IS BUILT BY OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. PRIDE IS BUILT BY CONQUERING YOUR VICTIM

I don’t find that weird I find that profound.

Ok - it is profound - but I still seem to find hearing from Him weird, because He doesn't think like me at all - He does though indeed have this very profound way of saying things. I mean - I have tended to think I get confidence by just winning a game and I don't think too much about whether I was going to win just because I was better - and I think that I lose confidence if I lose a game and i don't think too much about whether the other person or team was clearly better so that my efforts even when I lose was giving me confidence. Yet after listening to His thoughts, which are not my thoughts, I get a better understanding.

Anyway - I do appreciate what you wrote, and it is correct. It is also the reason that I delight in what I hear from Him even though He is weird, meaning that His thoughts are clearly not my thoughts.

 

[farouk]

CONFIDENCE IS BUILT BY OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. PRIDE IS BUILT BY CONQUERING YOUR VICTIM

I don’t find that weird I find that profound.

@Mantis My mind goes to Philippians 2, where the Lord Jesus 'humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross'.

 

[Karl Peters]

but we need to make sure what we hear is backed up by the word of God. Not saying that God doesn't talk to you, but there are other beings who can speak to us too, and we need to use the Bible as a verifier.

First of all - Jesus Christ is the Word of God!!

Have we not read:

Jn 1:1,2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

The Bible are the sacred writings referred to as "Scripture" in your Bible.

2 Tim 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

The Greek word for "Scriptures" is Graphe and it is never translated as Word in the Bible I have read. We do find a record in the Bible were people did treat the Scriptures as if they were God, as opposed to actually seeking Jesus Christ.

Jn 5:39,40 “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.

Now concerning discernment of spirit - is what we are talking about when making sure we are hearing from the Holy Spirit of God who brings up the words of our Lord Jesus Christ - the Scriptures do have some good advice about discernment of spirits!

1 Jn 4:1-3 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Now if you actually read the test and then go to apply it you will see that first you must be seeking Jesus Christ via His Holy Spirit (not the Bible but seek Him like the Bible says) then by using your spiritual ears you can test the spirit that is talking to you by finding out whether that spirit confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (which again is not reading the Bible as the word of God but by listening to who you are hearing from to find out if they are confessing Jesus Christ)

So, what you are not doing is leaning on your own understanding of the Bible but rather actually applying what is written to your hearing with your spiritual ears!!!

Another way to put that is to say that you are seeking Jesus Christ and what He has to say to you, via His Holy Spirit, as opposed to lean on your own understanding of the Scriptures!!

Does He match up with what it written - OH YES - but what about what you said. Does it match up with what is written?? It really sounds to me like someone trying to lean on their own understanding of the Scriptures instead of actually seeking the Lord Jesus Christ for His understanding, which comes via His words that come to us personally via the Holy Spirit!

Prov 3: 5-7 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the LORD and turn away from evil.

 

[Karl Peters]

@Mantis My mind goes to Philippians 2, where the Lord Jesus 'humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross'.
John 3.16 is a great verse, full of the Gospel.

You guys need to read the Bible every day! It's a real blessing.

'When I Survey The Wondrous Cross' : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5MPcx-Yoaw

Your favorite Psalm?

John 3.16: Simple Gospel truth and profound theology

People - the real blessing is Jesus Christ!!!

If anyone thinks 'God so loved the world that He gave us the Bible' they don't believe the Scared Writings which is called the Bible!!

God so loved the world that He gaves us His only begotten Son - Jesus Christ!!

We have Him!!

We have Him as our "Wonderful Counselor"-- But like He once told me personally, "Karl, they call me Wonderful Counselor, but I am not a wonderful counselor to those who don't listen to Me."

Yeah - the people like Moses, who wrote the Scriptures, listened to Him, but reading what they wrote is not you listening to Him!!!!

The REAL BLESSING IS HIM!! The word of God is that all should come to know Him - but the rebellious just pretend obedience to Him.

They search the Scriptures thinking in them they have eternal life - but that blessing blessing comes from knowing Jesus Christ the King over the Kingdom of God!! You don't get into the Kingdom of God except by knowing the King. So it is that the King is going to tell many that He never knew them!!

The Lord once gave me a teaching about knowing Him. He explained that there are many ways to communicate with others. For example you could write a book, or you could draw a picture, or you could make a movie. Yet if you read a book that someone wrote that does not mean you know them. Or if you look at a picture that someone painted that does not mean you know the person who painted it. Or you can watch a movie but that does not mean you know the person who made the movie!!

If you want to get to know a person try going to lunch with them, just you and that person, and talking back and forth with them. If you have done that they would then be a liar to say they never knew you!! And God is not a liar!!

Rev 3:20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

Yes - the Bible has information concerning the real blessing - but it also clearly explains that the real blessing in not the Scriptures but rather Jesus Christ - and you just have to open up to Him and let Him into your life!! That is what you read if you indeed read the Bible. Why don't people believe what they read?

Jn 5:46,47 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

 

[Karl Peters]

"...of course the Bible is not the Word of God we are preaching nor the Word of God which gives us more faith. It is the rhema word (an utterance His personally gives us) that gives us faith that He is there. His thoughts are not our thought, even His thoughts on His creation."

Hi Karl,
I do understand there is a difference between "logos and rhema"....one is (logos) the written word yet, also pertains to Jesus. Am I correct in saying that "rhema" is God's SPOKEN word, audible? And, cannot a Christian grow with only the written word of God? Many I know do not ever hear Him audibly. Then I hear some on here saying they have dialog, full conversations with Him. I do not so, all I have to depend on and fall back on IS His written word and prayer, faith, trust and the "not very often" thought that I THINK is coming from Him. Do you think one cannot please God unless they actually have 2 way conversations?
God Bless

Actually No - The logs is the Lord, where as rhema is the utterances He gives you personally. Where as Graphe is the Scriptures or written word as you like to say.

For example:

Jn 1:1,2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.

In the above verse "Logos" is used - and clearly Jesus Christ is the Logos. In this case John is calling Jesus Christ the logos because He is the One who owns the words of God.

Jn 16: 13-15 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.

Note that the Spirit of truth speaks and in so doing does not speak on His own but take what is Jesus Christ's (the words of God that the Father gave to Him) - and the Spirit speaks those to you - and more specifically your spirit.

Therefore the Word of God is the name for Jesus Christ!!

Rev 19:13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.

Again, Logos is used in the above verse as His name.

Now rhema is used in Rom 10:10 and 10:17

Rom 10:10 But what does it say? “THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching,

Rom 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

So the Rhema word is what we hear in our hearts or sometime on our lips - and we pick it up there because the Spirit of God personally talks to our spirit!! The Rhema word is that small voice we talk about. Logos is Jesus Christ.

Now the Scriptures are the Bible or what we sometimes called the written word, but graphe is the Greek word used for Scriptures and it is not ever translated "word" in your Bible - thought I have often heard preachers use the English word "Word" to refer to the Scriptures even though that is not done in the Bible!!

For example in Rom 10:11 For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

The Greek word graphe is the word translated to Scriptures in the above verse - and that is same where ever I looked up the Greek word for Scriptures. Also I could not find anywhere that graphe (Scriptures) was translated as 'word'.

So according to the Bible (the Scriptures) the Bible is not the "Word"!!!

Now certainly the Bible has words from God in it. But just as certainly not ever word in the Bible is a word attributed to God!! Indeed, even Satan is quoted specifically in the Bible and Satan even quoted Scriptures - thus making those words he quoted His words - and at that time Jesus Christ used other written words from the Scriptures to reprove Satan. So both Satan and Jesus Christ used words in the Scriptures (the written word as you say) to make their own argument or position! If that happen then, it still happens today. Which is to say that if we use our spiritual ears we might pick up Scriptures (the written word as some like to say) used by either the Lord Jesus Christ via His Holy Spirit to make His points to us, or we might also hear from Satan to quote a Scripture (written word) to us also.

What I am saying is that even if we read the Bible and pick up a spirit talking to us we still need to use some discernment of that spirit to discern whether it is the Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit or whether it is Satan. Remember the Pharisee read and studied the Scriptures. Indeed Jesus told the Jews they search the Scriptures thinking in them they had eternal life instead of coming to Him and listening to Him. (see Jn 5:39,40) So while it is wise to study the Bible, it is important that we get to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally. That means talking with Him personally. And He is the Truth, and He never leaves us. Indeed He sends His Holy Spirit to indwell us so we can also seek Him and get answer from Him personally from His Holy Spirit.

So Yes - we want to read and study the Bible, but we don't want to lean on our own understanding - meaning that we need to be actually picking up (hearing) what comes from Jesus Christ (The Logos) through His Holy Spirit - and the word (Rhema word) the Spirit of God brings to us about what we read in the Bible

 

[Karl Peters]

When the Lord talks about "To Whom Shall I Speak?" He is not asking about who reads but who listens to Him!!
To deny that is to deny the omni-present attribute of God. Therefore, it is to deny that the Word of God is near you!

Yet the word of God we preach is near you always!!

Your Bible is not always with you! And if by your effort you were to memorize the entire Bible, it would be found in your head and not your heart!! The Holy Spirit talks to your heart/spirit!

So we are not preaching the Bible, but rather we are using the Bible to preach Jesus Christ - that He wants to speak to us - but who will listen?

'To whom shall He speak?' The answer is; To the person who will listen to Him!!

 

[Christ4Me]

Jer 6:10 To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?
Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.

Jer 5:21 ‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
Who have eyes but do not see;
Who have ears but do not hear.

If we look at it from the Lord's perspective we find that people don't want to listen to Him! They don't even want to believe God is there all the time, as an omni-present being that sometimes goes by "I AM" because He is always there.

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Of course, God is spirit so we are talking about using our spiritual eyes and ears not our physical eyes and ears. Still we have spiritual senses, but we just live according to our flesh so much that we can't see and hear with our spiritual eyes and ears.

Just for clarity.

God the Father Is Not Invisible

Even me - I don't use my spiritual senses anywhere close to as much as I should. Yes - I usually hear the Lord and words that He tells me about a dozen times a day, but that is sad considering that He is always with me. Yet by hearing Him even a mere dozen times a day He can usually get through to me and warn me. He certainly can if He knows it is very important. Sometimes He lets me take a little crash to learn from. He has compared that to letting a child learn to ride a bike even if you know they will probably fall and hurt themselves at some point.

And He, when I listen, tells me such interesting things. He is pretty weird in that regards. His thoughts are definitely not my thoughts. Often He has little sayings like:

CONFIDENCE IS BUILT BY OVERCOMING ADVERSITY. PRIDE IS BUILT BY CONQUERING YOUR VICTIM

Little sayings, or interesting instructions, and of course the wonderful words "Karl, I love you." are so special. Yet He also reproves us with words like, "Karl, if a thousand of My mighty men are doing something wrong, I still don't want you doing it."

So why don't people want to listen to Him??? I don't understand? Why do they not take delight in what He has to say to them?

But I guess for their sakes, the real question from Him is, "To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear?

The answer is of course He will speak to those trying to hear from Him. The others don't get the warning, because they don't hear with the spiritual ears He gave them!

One can always ask Jesus Christ at that throne of grace for help & His wisdom to understand His words and see the truth in His words.

James 1: 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

And we can always pray for others that seemingly are not hearing His words nor yours. It may be that God will cause the increase later on down the road in that person's life whether it is to believe in Him for eternal life, or finally see that error or sin to repent of.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 25 Brethren, pray for us.

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

 

[Karl Peters]

2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Matthew 28:20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.



Just for clarity.

God the Father Is Not Invisible



One can always ask Jesus Christ at that throne of grace for help & His wisdom to understand His words and see the truth in His words.

James 1: 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. 7 For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. 8 A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

Romans 8:31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. 14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

And we can always pray for others that seemingly are not hearing His words nor yours. It may be that God will cause the increase later on down the road in that person's life whether it is to believe in Him for eternal life, or finally see that error or sin to repent of.

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. 25 Brethren, pray for us.

2 Timothy 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

I like the above post!!

I always like the verses - but not some people's interpretation - but if the interpretation is that we can hear from the Lord, which is what the Bible is basically all about, then I love it - even if others don't understand!

A few things I like above are:

"One can always ask Jesus Christ at that throne of grace for help & His wisdom to understand His words and see the truth in His words."

The Kingdom of God, which is where the King of kings has His throne, is in our midst - and His sheep hear His voice. So indeed, we "can always ask Jesus Christ" - and hear "His wisdom". I will say that even hearing form Him does not mean we will understand even though He gives us understanding and wisdom. We will however get one bit of wisdom and understanding, and that is the understanding that He has wisdom and He understands even if we don't.

ECC 7:23 I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

The above is what I did. I learned that I could hear from the Lord so I talked to Him to get wisdom, thinking I would be wise. Yet the wisdom I got was that wisdom is not mine but the Lord's! Yes - He could give me words of wisdom, but that just meant the He gave me words of His. It did not mean that I was wise so I could come up with wise words. So the only wisdom I really have for others is that they seek Him for wisdom (His words)

And getting Understanding is the same. Even if He gave me words of understanding I found that those words did not give me the ability to come up with the understanding to come up with those words by myself. Indeed, He once told me, "Karl, understanding that I am Understanding is understanding."

Prov 8:14 “Counsel is mine and sound wisdom;
I am understanding, power is mine.

He is understanding!! Understand that He is understanding, not you, is what we need to truly understand! If we understand that He is understanding, then we will seek Him and what He has to say. Thus the great advice we have to give to others is to seek Him and what He has to say, to each of us personally!!

And as written above, "One can always ask Jesus Christ" - at least they can do that if they have faith that Jesus Christ is always with them to hear from.

Note: Paul only wanted to find out one thing from people! The one thing Paul wanted to know from others was:

Gal 2:2 This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?

We can talk about a lot of things, but really there is only one thing I want to know about a person, and that is whether they are leaning on their own understanding or are getting understanding (His words) by hearing the Lord by faith via His Holy Spirit.

Or put another way: ""One can always ask Jesus Christ at that throne of grace for help & His wisdom to understand His words and see the truth in His words."

 

[quietthinker]

To Whom shall I speak
We do not know which seed will sprout and what soil it will land in....we throw it around and around and around. Our responsibility is to know what constitutes viable seed.

 

[Christ4Me]

To Whom shall I speak
We do not know which seed will sprout and what soil it will land in....we throw it around and around and around. Our responsibility is to know what constitutes viable seed.

True, but that is why each of us are to lean on Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd & Friend for wisdom in not only proving what others share by the scripture, but be open to correction from Him when others share His words to us.

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

1 Corinthians 3:5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? 6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.

 

[Karl Peters]

To Whom shall I speak
We do not know which seed will sprout and what soil it will land in....we throw it around and around and around. Our responsibility is to know what constitutes viable seed.

Our responsibility is to seek the Lord our God, Jesus Christ, by faith!!!!!

He said He put before us both good and evil and to choose good - of which only God is good. So, while we not always be able to pick up on the tricks of the devil, we have a God given ability already in us to choose between good and evil. The desire to choose good, which means seeking the Lord, is what makes the seed in us grow!

So it is not our responsibility to know what constitutes "viable seed", because we already have an ability to choose between good and evil, but rather it is our responsibility to choose good (Jesus Christ who is God)

Therefore the question from God - "To whom shall I speak" is only a question of whom is trying to hear from Him!!

Discernment of spirit - the ability to specifically as to exactly what is a trick from the devil and what is God - is a Gift from the Holy Spirit!!

1 Cor 12:10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.

Heb 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil.

The fact is that all can decide to start seeking good (Jesus Christ the Lord our God) If we make that choice He then sends the Holy Spirit to indwel us so that we can hear His words with come through His Holy Spirit to our spirit. Thus we get ears to hear. Yet as the light of this world, having His Holy Spirit in us makes both good and evil spirts more evident to us, just like a light turned on in a room makes us able to better see what is in the room. And when the Light (Jesus Christ via His Holy Spirit) is turned on in us we start noticing more and more that there is both good and evil before us. So by practicing using our spiritual sense, by seeking the Lord with our spirit, we become better and better at distinguishing of spirits. Still it all begins with just seeking Jesus Christ - He takes from there by sending His Spirit to make us better aware.

So it is not our responsibility to know what constitutes a viable seed, but it is our responsibility to seek Him by faith so that we get the Holy Spirit who shows us what constitutes a viable seed. That distinguishing of spirts is a gift the Holy Spirit brings with Him.

 

[farouk]

When the Lord talks about "To Whom Shall I Speak?" He is not asking about who reads but who listens to Him!!
To deny that is to deny the omni-present attribute of God. Therefore, it is to deny that the Word of God is near you!

Yet the word of God we preach is near you always!!

Your Bible is not always with you! And if by your effort you were to memorize the entire Bible, it would be found in your head and not your heart!! The Holy Spirit talks to your heart/spirit!

So we are not preaching the Bible, but rather we are using the Bible to preach Jesus Christ - that He wants to speak to us - but who will listen?

'To whom shall He speak?' The answer is; To the person who will listen to Him!!

@Karl Peters We should indeed be careful not just to believer about the Lord Jesus but to believe in Him, truly........

(John's First Epistle is very searching..........)